Organisers of a pro-Palestine protest in Lancashire have defended speakers who called for ‘Allah to eradicate the terrorist apartheid state of Israel’.

Sections of the protest speeches outside BAE Systems were shared on Twitter this weekend where speakers also called for the UK government to stop arming Israel.

Organisers said the call had been to be eradicate the ‘apartheid state’ but the state of Israel itself should co-exist with Palestine.

Hundreds of pro-Palestine protestors, many from Blackburn gathered at the gates of BAE Systems in Samlesbury at the end of May and early June to call upon BAE to stop supplying components of the US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program to Israel. In the second event protestors laid out 69 coffins to signify the number of children killed by Israeli bombs.

BAE Systems said the protests 'passed off peacefully and there was no impact on operations'.
In a speech held at the end of the protest a man prays for ‘help and support our brothers and sisters in Gaza’

“Oh Allah eradicate the entire region of oppressors, oppression and tyrants.

“Oh Allah to eradicate the world from the terrorist apartheid state of Israel’.

Later the same speaker says when referring to BAE Systems - ‘Bring their company to an end’.
In other sections of the protest a speaker says, “Let’s lay siege on BAE Systems!” “It’s our patch! We’re not accepting it anymore!”

Another speaker said that Hamas should fight the oppressors by ‘any means necessary’ and that ‘If they elect Hamas then that is fine’. He also adds: “If they fire rockets, that’s fine. Our role is to show unconditional solidarity, not to criticise. We can show our solidarity by hurting Israel financially.”

Twitter user @habibi_uk posted: “It is quite amusing that this group running an Israel hatred rally at a BAE Systems plant near Blackburn calls itself the ‘Lancashire Peace Forum’.

The Lancashire Peace Forum (LPF) were approached to respond to sections of the speeches which were shared.

In a response, a spokesperson for the LPF said: “The speaker is not calling for the destruction of Israel but calling for the end of apartheid in the state of Israel. We firmly believe in the right for Israel to co-exist with a fully functioning and independent Palestine.

“In other speeches people also make it clear that this is a demonstration against the actions of the Israeli government and those who supply it weapons. And not in any way against the Jewish people.”

The spokesperson added: “Palestinians have a right to resist occupation, It was settled a long time ago, that resistance and even armed struggle against a colonial occupation force is not just recognised under international law but specifically endorsed.

“In accordance with international humanitarian law, wars of national liberation have been expressly embraced, through the adoption of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 as a protected and essential right of occupied people everywhere. The oppressor is the Israeli state and the oppressed are the Palestinians.’’

“United Nations, Humans Rights Watch and Amnesty International and a plethora of other reputable organisations have all condemned the actions of the Israeli state.”